Black Bird' is a brand-new miniseries on Apple TV+ beginning July 8 th, and I was lucky enough to check out it out a little early! This review will contain no spoilers for this thrilling show! Black Bird is the true story of a convicted drug dealer, Jimmy Keene, played by Taron Egerton, who is offered freedom in exchange for befriending a suspected serial killer in prison, coaxing a confession and the location of the bodies he’s buried. For anyone who loves murder, serial killers, thrillers, or mysteries, this show is most definitely for you!
The cast of Black Bird is stellar, led by Taron Egerton, who does a phenomenal job playing this man, who has a terrifying job with tremendous stakes and massive repercussions if he fails. He either gets the information he needs, or a possible serial killer walks free, and he stays in prison to fulfil his sentence. Egerton pulls off an American/slightly Bostonian accent very well. He must show a ton of nuance in this performance because his character is very charismatic, but has lives on the line, including his own, and in order to save them, he must buddy up to a murderer. We get to see what that might do to someone’s mental state, and it isn’t always pretty.
The other cast member who must succeed for this show to work is Paul Walter Hauser, who plays Larry Hall, the suspected serial killer. Hauser could win an Emmy for this performance; he is truly terrifying in so many ways. He walks the line of mentally unstable and psychopath genius effortlessly. You never know whether his character is putting on a show or being 100% himself, and it puts the characters and the audience in some tough situations because of it.
The rest of the cast is held together by many actors doing great work, most notably the late Ray Liotta, who plays Jimmy Keene’s father in the series. He’s great in this show and goes through a lot due to his son being locked up and taking this job to try and gain his freedom. Liotta’s character feels very authentic as well, being as flawed as a father would be who allowed his son to become a large-scale drug dealer. This series is a testament to why we will miss Liotta going forward. He always brought his A game.
Overall, I think this show will be very well-received by whoever watches it all the way to the end, I just hope people will give it a shot. It’s thrilling, dark, creepy and well-done in every facet of its production. It sticks it’s landing, and I don’t think anyone will be disappointed. Apple hasn’t been in the game long, but they’re already known for producing quality content, and Black Bird most definitely falls into that category.
Check it out on Apple TV+ starting July 8 th with its first two episodes, and then weekly after that to fulfil its six-episode run! Come back to this review and let us know your thoughts once you’ve checked out the series!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Logan Wischmeier (Contributing Editor) is a Texas native and a massive fan of all genres of film. You can find him talking about movies on YouTube or in line for the latest Star Wars/Comic Book film.Click Here to check out Logan's Articles.